A new hope: Six questions with Dr. Jane Goodall

by Deb McDermott 

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Anthropologist, ethologist, activist. Dr. Jane Goodall has had many roles throughout her storied career, and has just as many reasons to be optimistic about the future. We sat down with her at EF’s Global Leadership Summit in Costa Rica to find out why she believes young people will change the world—and how you can help empower them to do just that.

 
Jane Goodall PhD, DBE:
Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace.
EF Education First:
Based on your experience as an activist, how can others start repairing the damaged world they’ve inherited?
 
Jane Goodall:
I’ve been trying to make this a better world for animals, people, and the environment flat out since 1986, and I’ve found that young people are eager to get involved. I think bringing together a lot of young people who clearly have leadership material so they can exchange ideas is a very important way ahead.
 
EF:
What have you seen and heard from young people that you find inspiring?
 
JG:
Students today are so articulate and so passionate. There’s been a real sea change, and I think it’s because adults have begun to listen to them and enable them to take charge. It’s our responsibility to work with young people to help heal some of the harm that we’ve inflicted. That’s why I began [my youth service organization] Roots & Shoots, as a gathering of young people who wanted to make the world a better place. The main message is that every single one of us makes a difference every single day. And we all have a choice as to what kind of difference we’re going to make.
 
EF:
What advice would you give people who feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to start?
 
JG:
So many people feel overwhelmed. The big problem is the saying you hear all the time: “Think globally, act locally.” But if you start by thinking globally at all the problems we’ve inflicted on the planet, you don’t have the heart to act locally. What’s the point? It’s just me. If I pick up litter, what difference will it make? If I save electricity, if I save water, will it make any difference?
 
But if you get a group of people together, they quickly realize that if all of them pick up trash, if all of them save electricity, if all of them persuade their friends to do the same, there starts to be the kind of change we must have. And once they see what they’ve done by rolling up their sleeves and taking action—and that there are people like them all around the world doing the same thing—then they can dare to think globally.
 
 
EF:
What will enable young people to take action on the changes they want to see in the world?
 
JG:
They need a group of like-minded people who believe in themselves and in the project, and then to see the difference they make. The more people we get sharing a philosophy, the sooner we’ll get to the kind of world that we all hope for.
 
EF:
What’s the biggest reason you’re hopeful for the future?
 
JG:
The indomitable human spirit. There are people who tackle seemingly impossible tasks and won’t give up and very often succeed against all odds—iconic figures like Nelson Mandela, who actually moved his nation out of the evil regime of apartheid without a bloodbath, which nobody thought was possible. But they’re all around us, these indomitable spirits. Every single one of us has that same spirit, if we just believe in it and believe in ourselves.
 
EF:
What’s one message you’d like to leave people with?
 
JG:
Every day on this planet, you make an impact. So let it be the right kind of impact that will make you go to sleep with a happy heart.
 

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